This invention is directed to display racks, and more particularly to display racks of the type which are so constructed as to maximize the usable hanging space while consuming a minimum amount of floor space.
In the retail merchandising of goods, such as apparel, for example, it has always been an object to attractively display the goods. Ideally, the purpose of display racks is to neatly store merchandise, yet allow the potential customer sufficient access to examine selected articles. Therefore, display racks should neatly arrange and attractively display the merchandise, all the while maximizing the efficiency of floor space usage. Floor space is an extremely important consideration because of its relative cost in the merchandising operation.
One type of extremely old and functional display rack is called a "rounder". Such display racks are simply a plurality of vertical standards which support a circular rod from which merchandise is hung on hangers. This type of display rack is extremely popular for displaying slacks, sweaters, blouses, dresses, fabric, and other types of merchandise which can be hung or suspended in a vertical plane. In early days, most apparel and fabric was displayed on shelves containing vertical stacks of goods, each arranged in a horizontal plane. This display arrangement made inspection by customers difficult because, in order to inspect a piece of apparel or fabric near the bottom of the stack, it had to be removed. After inspection a clerk had to replace the item. On the other hand, "rounders" essentially formed a horizontal stack of articles arranged in vertical planes, and makes inspection much easier.
The drawbacks to "rounders" are that they consume an extremely large amount of floor space. This is true because such racks have a diameter of three feet or more. After articles are suspended from the racks, the total diameter of the loaded rack may be on the order of 7 or 8 feet. There is an open area in such display racks of approximately 4 feet in diameter which is essentially wasted. It is this wasted area that the apparatus of the present invention seeks to eliminate or reduce.
Two patents in the prior art have come to the attention of the applicant. They are U.S. Pat. Nos. 919,574 to Hayes issued Apr. 27, 1909 and DES 230,449 to Cohen issued Feb. 26, 1974. Both of these patents are illustrative of display racks which seek to maximize floor space. The Hayes patent illustrates a rounder containing a plurality of retractable, radially extending hanging elements or rods from which articles of merchandise are hung in a relatively tight configuration. The retractable feature allows the rods to be moved to an extended position for inspection of the merchandise. The number of articles that can be utilized on such a rounder is limited to the number of rods, and there is much wasted circumferential space between the radial hanging elements. The Cohen patent teaches an inclined spiral rod, however, also the individual hanging elements severely limit the number of articles which can be displayed on an inclined rod. Further, when articles are attempted to be suspended from an inclined rod, they react to the effect of gravity, and all tend to gravitate toward the bottom end of the rod. As a result, separating projections are necessarily spaced along the length of the rod, which limits the number of articles which can be suspended from any one rack.
In the present invention, the problem has been addressed by utilizing substantially horizontal, curved support segments attached to the support standards. In order to minimize the wasted space at the center of the rack, however, at least some of the support segments are inverted, i.e., curved inwardly toward the center of the rack, rather than curving outwardly, as in the case of a "rounder" in which all segments are in essence arcuate portions of the circumference of a circle.
Because of potential interference between adjacent segments at the same level, in preferred embodiments of the present invention, adjacent curved segments are vertically offset one from the other. Therefore, in some embodiments of the present invention, some curved segments are at one elevation, while other curved segments are at another elevation. This lends a rather unique and attractive appearance to the overall rack.
In the present invention, there is thus provided a display rack which includes a plurality of upstanding support standards arranged in such relation to each other as to form the vertices of a polygon. At least one inverted curved segment joins an adjacent pair of the support standards. In some embodiments, adjacent ones of the inverted curved segments are arranged at different elevations. Each curved segment is preferably arranged substantially horizontal so that hangers do not tend to slide in one direction or another. In a preferred embodiment, there are provided four segments with a first pair of opposed segments at a first higher elevation and a second pair of opposed segments at a lower elevation.
The term "inverted curved segment" as utilized in this application is intended to mean a curved or arcuate segment which curves inwardly from the ends thereof toward the vertical axis of the display rack. As such, one or more of the conventional outwardly curved or circumferential segments, which are space consuming, is eliminated.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a rack for displaying hanging merchandise which minimizes the requisite floor space without reducing the number of articles of merchandise which can be suspended therefrom.